Teach Us to Number Our Days

Test day. In school, it could come any day of the week, but was often on a Friday. We felt the responsibility to learn all that was expected of us before test day. There was the pressure to try and understand rightly, so that no matter how the questions were presented, we would make the right response — and pass the test.

Often, the teacher would tell us when to expect a test and what material it would be covering. The teacher would also clue us in to the most important points to be remembered. That was especially for the benefit of those who had trouble determining what was important and what was simply an inconsequential detail.

God Almighty does pretty much the same with us. God’s word repeats important truths in many different ways throughout the whole Bible. A few of the absolute essential truths we need to learn include: all prophecy points to Jesus as the one-and-only true Savior — we are saved by grace from our sins through faith in Christ Jesus — God Almighty created all things and will bring everything to Judgment Day — but nobody will know when that Judgment Day will come.

Moses had learned well the lessons of God’s grace, mercy, and salvation through faith. He also had learned very well that there will be a final Judgment Day. In his life experiences, Moses grew in a great faith, respect, and dependence upon the faithfulness of God’s wisdom and love. So, in his concern for all of Israel, Moses fervently prayed in Psalm 90:12,

So teach us to number our days, That we may present to You a heart of wisdom.

This is a prayer for plain ol’ common sense and a decent respect for the almighty holiness of the LORD’s being. We need to be constantly aware of the fact that today could be our very last day on earth. Today could be the day when our faith will be tested to the uttermost. Today could be a day of great temptations. Will we pass the test?

We know what God expects of us — and we know that Jesus is our Savior in all situations. We know our life is short. We know we will be tested. We truly need to have God Almighty “teach us to number our days”. We don’t want to flunk the tests of faith, hope, and love when we’ve been given so much help from our Lord for living rightly.

Weak as we are, we need to pray, “So teach us to number our days”. We want to pass God’s test — and we realize we must ask for God’s help, “that we may present to You a heart of wisdom”. We don’t want to be ashamed of flunking after having had so many opportunities to grow in “a heart of wisdom”. Let us pay attention to God’s word and learn it well, so we may present to God “a heart of wisdom”.

Thankful for God’s help and mercy, we say, “Hallelujah! LORD, thank You for teaching us in Your word.”